The Ideal Starting 5 for Each NBA Team

Most NBA teams' starting fives are three or four deep. They have the majority of the pieces in place to make them a decent or even good team.

What most teams need is that one piece (or two, in some cases) to plug into the starting five to get over that hump that seperates decent teams from good ones and good teams from great ones.

These pieces do not necessarily need to be All-Stars or superstars. Sometimes, a good role player will complement the other starters to make the team's starting five ideal.

The rules for making this list—I can add at most two players to a current NBA's team's starting five. The player(s) I add through free agency must fit under the cap. If I add a player(s) through a trade, it must work in ESPN's Trade Machine.

Free Agents can show up on multiple rosters, traded players also. For example Nene can be ideal for the New Jersey Nets and the Denver Nuggets.

Smith has been involved in trade rumors last season and even before that. Marvin Williams could slip into the starting SF spot finally and Nash can reunite with Joe Johnson. They worked well together before.

The Suns might be inclined to accept the trade since the team has ran its course and Nash only has one year left on his contract. Phoenix would get a really good player in Smith and can start to rebuild. Vince Carter's, Mickael Pietrus's and Robin Lopez's salaries come off the cap after next season.

From there they can use their LeBron James trade exception to get Ellis. This would save the Warriors money and lets them get rid of a potential problem pairing with Stephen Curry.

The Cavs then trade Anderson Varajao and Ramon Sessions to the Indiana Pacers for Granger. Indiana's starting PG is George Hill at the moment and Sessions can be insurance for them. Varajao can give them more depth up front.

Detroit Pistons

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Ideal Starting Five

Point Guard: Brandon Knight

Shooting Guard: Ben Gordon

Small Forward: Austin Daye

Power Forward: Glen Davis

Center: Greg Monroe

The Pistons do not have a lot to work with and are only $8 million less than the cap. Tayshaun Prince is an unrestricted free agent who I don't see them re-signing. Richard Hamilton's contract is practically untradeable.

Might as well start the rookie Brandon Knight and move Daye into the starting lineup.

With their cap room, they should sign someone like Glen Davis. It's either Davis or Charlie Villanueva. I believe Davis is better.

Los Angeles Clippers

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Ideal Starting Five

Point Guard: Eric Bledsoe

Shooting Guard: Eric Gordon

Small Forward: Tayshaun Prince/Caron Butler

Power Forward: Blake Griffin

Center: DeAndre Jordan

The Clippers have a lot of very nice young pieces and they have money to spend. Al-Farouq Aminu does not look like he's ready to start just yet, so the Clips should get a proven starter through free agency. They can do this by signing either Prince or Butler.

They also need to make re-signing Jordan a priority.

If they are able to sign him, they can trade Chris Kaman for Danny Granger. This trade would work out well for both teams.

Miami Heat

Miami has no cap room and hardly any tradeable assets. The center position was a problem for them last season. They can fix this by sending Mike Miller to the Suns for Robin Lopez and a trade exception.

All Lopez would have to do is play good defense and rebound, and that he can do.

New Jersey Nets

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Ideal Starting Five

Point Guard: Deron Williams

Shooting Guard: Anthony Morrow

Small Forward: Tayshaun Prince

Power Forward: Nene Hilario

Center: Brook Lopez

The Nets have the money to spend and must upgrade the roster to appease Deron. They must get better at SF. Prince can come in right away as the proven veteran this young team needs. Nene can team with Lopez to form one of the better frontcourts in the league.

Philadelphia 76ers

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Ideal Starting Five

Point Guard: Jrue Holliday

Shooting Guard: Evan Turner

Small Forward: Andre Iguodala

Power Forward: Elton Brand

Center: Tyson Chandler

The Sixers have a pretty good starting four, that is if Brand can stay healthy. They should move last year's rookie, Turner, into the SG spot ahead of Jodie Meeks. Turner showed signs of improvement after a slow start.

Through free agency, Tyson Chandler could be a major improvement over Spencer Hawes.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings have a lot of young talent and a lot of shoot-first players. They need veteran leadership and a pure point guard to distribute the ball.

They also have a bunch of cap room. They should throw a lot of that money at Chandler, he would be a perfect defensive complement to the offensive Cousins.

Then get a veteran SF in Butler or Prince, players that don't need the ball to contribute.

I don't know what they were thinking with drafting another shoot-first guard in Jimmer Fredette. Well, probably ticket sales. But, what does this mean for Tyreke Evans who plays a similar type game? Do they plan to trade him for a point?

There is really no option for a point guard in free agency unless they want to take a flyer out on T.J. Ford or Acie Law.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz drafted C Enes Kanter leaving them flush with big men. Paul Millsap is the odd man out. Jazz should ship Millsap and C. J. Miles to the Indiana Pacers for Danny Granger.

Granger has been brought up in trade rumors numerous times and has become an expensive luxury to the Pacers ever since they drafted Paul George, who has a similar game but is younger than Granger and cheaper.

Washington Wizards

Washington has a very young, talented team and they need time to grow and become familiar with each other. What they don't have is a strong veteran presence. Free agent Shane Battier can provide that.

Battier doesn't care too much about getting his minutes, so there would be no big clash with incoming first-round SF Jan Vesely. Battier can come to Washington and show this young bunch how to play as a team and hold them accountable for their mistakes. He can also provide defense and three-point shooting.

With close to $12 million in cap room, the Wizards can make Battier a great offer.